"virtue does not come to a mind unless it is trained and taught and brought to its highest condition by constant exercise."
- Seneca, Letters, 90.46
Strictly speaking, virtue is intelligence and understanding - and to make progress in virtue is to make progress in intelligence and understanding. Somehow, however, the idea of making progress in intelligence seems alien to many people. A widespread position seems to be that it is certainly healthy to exercise the mind to keep it running smoothly - but intelligence is understood as a static capability: each of us was born with a certain degree of intelligence and the world is in the state that it is because most people has not been endowed with great amounts of intelligence. Seen from that perspective, unique individuals such as Mozart or Einstein are seen as outstanding specimens born with unusual amounts of intelligence.
The Stoics would disagree with this. Seen from their perspective, what makes outstanding individuals outstanding is not their genes, the size of their brain or anything like that - but their mindset. Outstanding individuals are individuals who have made the best of whatever life has presented them with. Individuals who have understood that intelligence is something that can be developed and that we have a choice between being smart or stupid.
Stupidity is a choice
Stupidity is a choice
Stupidity is a choice
"virtue does not come to a mind unless it is trained and taught and brought to its highest condition by constant exercise."
- Seneca, Letters, 90.46
Strictly speaking, virtue is intelligence and understanding - and to make progress in virtue is to make progress in intelligence and understanding. Somehow, however, the idea of making progress in intelligence seems alien to many people. A widespread position seems to be that it is certainly healthy to exercise the mind to keep it running smoothly - but intelligence is understood as a static capability: each of us was born with a certain degree of intelligence and the world is in the state that it is because most people has not been endowed with great amounts of intelligence. Seen from that perspective, unique individuals such as Mozart or Einstein are seen as outstanding specimens born with unusual amounts of intelligence.
The Stoics would disagree with this. Seen from their perspective, what makes outstanding individuals outstanding is not their genes, the size of their brain or anything like that - but their mindset. Outstanding individuals are individuals who have made the best of whatever life has presented them with. Individuals who have understood that intelligence is something that can be developed and that we have a choice between being smart or stupid.